| Desktop Management Interface | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | DMI |
| Status | Superseded byCIM |
| Year started | 1994; 32 years ago (1994) |
| Organization | Distributed Management Task Force |
| Base standards | SMBIOS,WBEM,WS-Management |
| Domain | Desktop management |
| Website | www |
TheDesktop Management Interface (DMI) generates a standardframework for managing and trackingcomponents in a desktop, notebook or servercomputer, byabstracting these components from the software that manages them. The development of DMI, 2.0 version June 24, 1998,[1] marked the first move by theDistributed Management Task Force (DMTF) into desktop-management standards.[2]Before the introduction of DMI, no standardized source of information could provide details about components in apersonal computer.
Due to the rapid development of DMTF technologies, such asCommon Information Model (CIM), the DMTF defined an "End of Life" process for DMI, which ended on March 31, 2005.[3]
From 1999,Microsoft requiredOEMs and BIOS vendors to support the DMI interface/data-set in order to have Microsoft certification[citation needed].
DMI exposes system data (including theSystem Management BIOS (SMBIOS) data) to management software, but the two specifications function independently.
DMI is commonly confused with SMBIOS, which was actually called DMIBIOS in its first revisions.
When software queries a memory-resident agent that resides in the background, it responds by sending data in MIFs (Management Information Format) or activating MIF routines. Static data in a MIF would contain items such as model ID, serial number, memory- and port-addresses. A MIF routine could read memory and report its contents.
DMI can co-exist withSNMP and other management protocols. For example, when an SNMP query arrives, DMI can fill out the SNMPMIB with data from its MIF. A single workstation or server can serve as a proxy agent that would contain the SNMP module and service an entireLAN segment of DMI-capable machines.
 | This article includes a list ofgeneral references, butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations. Please help toimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(February 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
This document describes the Desktop Management Interface, or DMI, that acts as a layer of abstraction between these two worlds
The first desktop management standard from the DMTF.
Due to the rapid advancement of DMTF technologies, such as CIM, DMTF defined an end of life process for its Desktop Management Interface (DMI), which concluded March 31, 2005.